If there’s one place in the world where inspiration shines bright, it’s Vivid Sydney. Returning for its eleventh year from 24 May – 15 June 2019. It’s the most wonderful time of the year for lovers of light, music and ideas! This year Automated has been commissioned to supply and program advanced Lighting Control technology to three of the Vivid sites; Harmony, Let It Snow and Nostalgia Above.
HARMONY
Artists: Conybeare Morrison International Pty Ltd: Rod Tan (Philippines) / Lawrence Liang (Australia)
Collaborators: Rene-Ann Glover (Australia) / Ben Starr (Australia) / Angus Easthope (Australia) / Stervan Kansil (Australia)
As a recent migrant arriving just under a year ago, one of the first things the artist noticed and about Sydney was sense of diversity and multi-culturalism. Harmony expresses the fascination for the way a community of individuals live and breathe as one, accepting each other, choosing to embrace other cultures rather than shying away.
Society is made from threads of individualism. Each may seem boldly unique to one another yet there is a commonality of open mindedness under one flag that holds the fabric strong. This co-existence of people in Sydney is the inspiration for Harmony and the ideology that the installation hopes to celebrate.
This concept is articulated through the form of a tree, in which six elements of light and sound spiral from the root to the canopy. Through vibrant and distinctive colours, each segment represents a metaphor for different people, backgrounds and cultures. Together they become the swirling and spiralling embodiment of our interconnectedness and unison.
The segments can be played like musical instruments. Visitors are encouraged to step on the illuminated pressure pads to trigger a unique animation of light and sound. Each element is one instrument in a symphony. When all six are triggered together, a memorising display is activated, celebrating our society’s unity. This synchronicity underscores the very essence of Harmony.
LET IT SNOW
Artists: Conybeare Morrison International Pty Ltd: Jing Li (China) / Lawrence Liang (Australia) / Richard Nugent (United States)
Collaborators: Rene-Ann Glover (Philippines) / It Chew Tan (Malaysia) / Angus Easthope (Australia) / Eric Lieb (Australia) / Ben Starr (Australia)
Have you ever seen it snow in Sydney? This super-scale immersive and responsive installation makes it seems like giant snowflakes have landed at Hickson Road Reserve.
This is an environment where virtual and physical worlds coincide. Walk between the crystalline structures for a sense of the way snow flurries. Illuminated by many thousands of LED bulbs, Let It Snow reacts to weather patterns and pedestrian motion. Light plays across the dendrites that give each snowflake its singular form. According to lead artist Jing Li, ‘as you enter the piece, you are walking into a space occupied by real and virtual elements, and you can affect both. The space feels more turbulent and tempestuous when the wind is blowing and lots of people are playing, wandering and running around the flake shapes. On less busy evenings with little to no breeze, the spaces feels calm and gentle’. Whatever the level of activity, seating within the installation provides an opportunity to pause and marvel at this algorithmic snow show.
Let It Snow enlivens our spatial perception and teases our emotions. Watching simulated snowflakes fall from the sky brings us closer to mother nature, and highlights our own natures. “Just like each snowflake, we as individuals are all unique and beautiful.” – Artist Jing Li
NOSTALGIA ABOVE
Artists: Capto Collaborative: Anson Li (Australia) / Lawrence Liang (Australia) / Ali Megahed (New Zealand) / Lynda Tran (Australia) / Sarah Anstee (Australia) / Selin Durmush (Australia) / Natalia Gulbransen-Diaz (Australia) / Yanyi Feng (Australia)
Collaborators: Rene-Ann Glover (Philippines) / Bosco Liang (China) / Ben Starr (Australia) / Christian Tilia (Australia) / Meleki Mutuanene (Kenya) / Hunter Iceton (Australia) / Nathaniel Marin (Australia)
Humans have always had a fascination with clouds. There is something undeniably calming about occasionally looking skyward, taking a moment and drifting into reverie. Nostalgia Above captures the clouds and connects the romance of nature with weather data, demonstrating that there are always brighter, more positive days around the corner.
The youngest team of artists in Vivid Light, Capto Collaborative has worked closely with Beyond Blue to create an installation that inspires positive forward thinking. This barometer of social interconnectivity uses programmable LED bulbs, diffused through clusters of translucent polycarbonate spheres and projections of environmental imagery. The installation is suspended overhead, just out of reach, over a sea of upturned faces and awe-struck eyes.
Stratified above the clusters is a ‘sky’ of vivid colour projections programmed as weather systems that move across the spheres creating the illusion of rolling cloudscapes. Periodically, these clouds come to life through animated sequences forecasting weather predictions for six months to come.
In this immersive experience of Nostalgia Above, sound and visuals combine in informative projected displays reminding us that there is always a silver lining. Brighter, warmer days are around the corner. Sometimes we just need to stop, look up and enjoy the clouds.
